Tag: Sergei Skripal

Two men named as suspects in the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in the UK have said they were merely tourists. The men, named as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, told the state-run RT channel they had travelled to Salisbury on the recommendation of friends. The UK believes the men are Russian military intelligence officers who tried to kill Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury last March.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia had found the two men accused by British prosecutors of trying to murder ex- Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain, but that there was nothing criminal about them.

British prosecutors named two Russian men, believed to be officers in Russia's intelligence service, they believe were behind the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter in the U.K. earlier this year. They named the men as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, and said they are officers in Russia's foreign military intelligence agency, the GRU.

Two British citizens are critically ill after they were exposed to Novichok, the same nerve agent that struck down a former Russian agent and his daughter in March, Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer said on Wednesday.

Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has put the club's stadium plans on hold after delays to the renewal of his UK visa. The estimated cost for a new 60,000 seat Stamford Bridge has increased to £1bn after delays, which included a dispute with a local family.

by Boris Johnson - Sometimes it seems as if running a good cover-up is the main job of the Kremlin. No other government devotes as much time and effort to the business of trying to sabotage or discredit international inquiries.

The European Union has recalled its ambassador to Moscow after leaders agreed it was “highly likely” Russia was responsible for a nerve agent attack in the UK. In a statement following an evening of talks in Brussels, the European Council of EU leaders agreed “there is no plausible alternative explanation”.

The UK will expel 23 Russian diplomats after Moscow refused to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent was used on a former spy in Salisbury, the PM says. Theresa May said the diplomats, who have a week to leave, were identified as “undeclared intelligence officers”. She also revoked an invitation to Russia's foreign minister, and said the Royal Family would not attend the Fifa World Cup later this year.

Former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia, Theresa May has told MPs. The PM said it was “highly likely” Russia was responsible for the Salisbury attack.

British Home Secretary is to make a Commons statement on the Salisbury poisoning mystery amid calls for a police investigation into 14 suspicious spying-related deaths in recent years. Amber Rudd will report to MPs on the dramatic disclosure by Scotland Yard that Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a deadly nerve agent and targeted in an attempt to murder them.